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Senate scandal: RCMP investigating Nigel Wright, says Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper told the Commons Tuesday that former chief of staff Nigel Wright is “under investigation” by the Mounties but denies his office is the subject of an RCMP probe.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the Commons Tuesday that former chief of staff Nigel Wright was being investigated by the RCMP, but, "To my knowledge, the Prime Minister’s Office is not." (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper has told the Commons his former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, is “under investigation” by the Mounties but denies his office is the subject of an RCMP probe into the Senate expenses scandal.

Harper’s statements have not been publicly confirmed by the RCMP or Wright’s lawyers.

“We are not in a position to comment on the matter,” said Lucy Shorey, a spokesman for the RCMP’s national division in Ottawa. Investigators have has said in court documents only that they have communicated with Wright’s lawyers and Wright has supplied documents as requested.

Harper’s comments come after a 10-day Commons reprieve for Remembrance week events, when the Prime Minister faced another grilling by Opposition leader Tom Mulcair about a “cover-up” for the $90,000 repayment deal Sen. Mike Duffy alleges was devised in the PMO.

The prime minister turned aside questions of whether he had any regrets about his office’s role in Duffy’s repayment of inappropriate Senate expenses. Harper said his office is not under investigation.

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“It is Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy who are under investigation by the authorities,” said Harper.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair pressed Harper further: “Is the Prime Minister’s Office being investigated or is the Prime Minister’s Office not being investigated? Which is it? Both cannot be true.”

Harper then modified his answer with a slight caveat.

“To my knowledge, the Prime Minister’s Office is not being investigated. The RCMP has not said any such thing. What we have said is that we continue to work with the RCMP and provide them with any and all information required.”

Wright’s lawyer, Peter Mantas, told the Star in an emailed reply: “Mr. Wright is assisting the police with their investigation. Otherwise, he has no comment on the latest characterization of events.”

The prime minister’s comments go further than any he has made to date. Because he made them during exchanges in question period in the House of Commons, the comments have “absolute” legal privilege attached which protects Harper from any civil liability if he’s wrong.

Mulcair derided the answer. “Now there is a classic, Mr. Speaker: ‘To my knowledge.’ That is a new one. It is in the top 10 of weasel words.”

The NDP leader was admonished by the Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer for suggesting Harper was not being forthright.

Harper also avoided a direct answer when Mulcair demanded to know whether specific Harper staffers counselled Duffy to lie about getting a bank loan to repay his expenses.

“In terms of my office, the responsibility for this was Mr. Wright, the chief of staff.”

Wright resigned several days after it was first revealed by CTV News that he had written a $90,000 cheque to defray Duffy’s housing and some travel expenses. Duffy says the cheque came with an order not to talk to the media, to falsely claim it was from a bank loan, all in exchange for a promise that a Senate sub-committee report would go easy on him over the inappropriately claimed expenses.

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